Passive Dynamic Audio Compressor

This dynamic compressor with passive components reduces high signal to a lower, more constant signal. If you look at this compressor schematic, you’ll notice it has no power supply, the required power is obtain thru the output signal.
If you respect the schematic values this audio compressor will output a constant 70mV when the input voltage is between 100mV and 10V!

7 Responses to "Passive Dynamic Audio Compressor"

How the design specs should be changed for compressor to cope well with bass guitar? A friend of mine constructed this thing from the diagram and it was deforming sound and reducing the signal way to much… But I’d like to install it in my vintage custom bass as it has much free space within the body and I’d like to have more sound-changing capabilities, while the active electronics would be blasphemous for an instrument of that kind… I’m completely ignorant in electronics and I’d have it built by my pro friend, but he needs to know the correct specs.
Thanks alot for any future feedback.

I see a lot of differing specs on the AA119 with a forward voltage ranging from 0.25v to 2.2v. What are the specs on the diodes for this circuit so that I can find an equivalent? I asked the same question on another circuit, but it would be good to have the answer in both places.